In 2022, Anna Donnelly (Centre for Teacher Education), approached the GRP for financial support to begin a small-scale pilot study on children and environmental literature. The initial findings are that children were highly engaged with the texts used, and the study itself offered valuable insight into the pre-existing environmental knowledge of children. Those who took part demonstrated an understanding of the importance of the environment and the environmental or moral messages contained within stories they read.

The findings at this stage illustrate the need for further research into this topic to further understand the child's relationship to environment and environmental change. The study also highlighted the vital role of Early years and primary school teachers as facilitators to ensure the scientific, moral and philosophical nuances of the environmental challenge we face are communicated to children and young people. Environmental fiction could be the key to making connections between the curriculum, real-world debates, and climate action.

You can find out more about the research and its findings here.

Amongst the many attendees to the 'Our Fragile Space' exhibition in May was Coventry poet Mary Courtney. Following her visit, Mary reached out to share a poem inspired by what she had seen. Her thoughtful reflection has been warmly received by artist Max Alexander, and underlines the power of Max's work.

You can read Mary's poem over at the Resonate Stories blog.

Last month, Coventry Cathedral hosted Max Alexander's latest exhibition, Our Fragile Space: Protecting the Near-Space Environment. Supported by the GRP in collaboration with Max and other project partners, the two-week exhibition was held in the evocative open-air environment of the Cathedral Ruins, and sought to highlight the global threat of space debris, and how researchers at Warwick’s Centre for Space Domain Awareness (CSDA) are working to understand the problem.

Read more and see photographs over at the Resonate Stories blog.

In the run up to the opening of the Our Fragile Space exhibition, New Scientist has published a new feature highlighting the issue of space debris, featuring many of Max's photos. Click here to view the article.

On Friday, May 12th, GRP co-lead Catherine Constable and artist Max Alexander were interviewed by Rachel New on BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire as part of press coverage for the Our Fragile Space.

GRP co-lead David Armstrong has recently been awarded £1.3 million grant from UKRI’s Frontier ResearchGuarantee SchemeLink opens in a new window. He will lead continuing pioneering research into planet origins in collaboration with research groups at the Universities of Geneva, Bern and Porto. The anticipated findings will transform our understanding of planetary formation.